


The Last of Her Name

by TheYellowTurtle



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fire Nation Royal Family, Katara's and Sokka's Maternal Grandparents are Free Real Estate, Minor Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Southern Water Tribe, Worldbuilding, aang is still in the iceberg, extended timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27291364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYellowTurtle/pseuds/TheYellowTurtle
Summary: In 55 AG, the Elders of the Southern Water Tribe believe the Sea Wolf has failed. It is from here that our story begins.
Relationships: Kanna & Katara (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	The Last of Her Name

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [biscuitlevitation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/biscuitlevitation/pseuds/biscuitlevitation) for betaing this for me :3
> 
> This fic is essentially an outline of a Katara-centric story that starts in 55 AG and spans till 140 AG. I say Katara-centric, however, the women in Katara's family-centric might be more accurate. 
> 
> I never really liked the idea that the world was incapable of righting itself without the Avatar's assistance, so in this AU a resistance movement made up of all four nations is able to defeat the Fire Nation before Aang wakes up from his iceberg nap.
> 
> Also, a Grandmaster in this AU is someone who has been declared the best bender in their clan, village, nation, etc. Other Masters will seek them out to further improve their bending.
> 
> CW: minor character death, a F-bomb presented to you by Zuko, mentions of cultural genocide, imperialism
> 
> Edit: 12/5/20 Added some internal links :)

**Spring 55 AG**

It is only after the victims of the Fire Nation ambush have been properly laid to rest, after the injured have had their burns soothed, after the waterbenders have repaired the damage done to the walls, after hawks have been sent to all of the neighboring clans, after countless hours of debate about what the tribe’s next move should be, after decades worth of pain that occurred in the span of a week, it is after all of this that the tribal elders put forth that the current Sea Wolf of the Southern Water Tribe had most likely failed. 

The highest honor that could be bestowed upon a member of the Southern Water Tribe, the Sea Wolf could be of any gender, sexuality, age or bending status. As long as the people of the South believed an individual was the most qualified to complete a crucial task, they could be granted the privilege of becoming the Sea Wolf. After being elected, the Sea Wolf was adorned in clothes provided by every clan, bathed under Tui’s light, presented with the Wolf’s Fang, and asked for the Spirits to grant them favor. If the Sea Wolf was unable to complete their task and failed to return the sacred blade to the tribe, then they were said to be forsaken by the spirits. To be forsaken was the death sentence to one’s memory; to become one of the Forgotten. From then on, no one could share their name, no one could retain possessions made by their hand, and no one could tell stories of their feats during the long winter months, nor any month. A failed Sea Wolf would cease to exist. 

The current Sea Wolf had set sail in hopes of reuniting with the estranged North after hearing rumors among Earth Kingdom traders that the next Fire Lord was likely to cease the Fire Nation’s policy of global expansion. The North’s offer of a Peace Summit had made the people of the Southern Water Tribe optimistic. That had been in Winter. 

It was late Spring now. 

There was no word from the North. No word from the Sea Wolf. 

Instead, multiple villages of the Southern Water Tribe had been ambushed in the early morning by elite Fire Nation forces. Hundreds had been murdered in their own homes, and hundreds more burned while pushing the invading forces back. 

Grandmaster of the Southern Water Tribe, Daughter of the Otter Penguin Clan, and Current Sea Wolf, Ka’ena, had been tasked with securing peace. 

She had failed. 

The elders of the South did not need to see a corpse to know this. The only thing that could have stopped Grandmaster Ka’ena from returning to the South, from returning to her young daughter, was death. 

Thus it was only one week after the start of what would become known as the Southern Raids in the Fire Nation and Genocide in the South, that Ka’ena of the Southern Water Tribe was spiritually banished. 

Her home was deconstructed and all of her worldly possessions gathered to be returned to the ocean. Friends and family solemnly added the trinkets and jewelry made by her hand to the growing pile of what represented her previously admired life. 

Beads for a friend with a consistent hairstyle. 

A bracelet carved for a student successfully achieving the rank of Master.

Embroidered armbands for a brother that enjoyed dressing up. 

A tiger seal plushie for a young daughter that needed to hold something and to be held to fall asleep. 

Kya’s uncle had to restrain the sobbing four year old as she listened to her grandfather banish her own mother before the tribe. How could a child possibly understand the intricacies of being disfavored by the spirits? How could a child possibly understand that her mom failing to return home almost certainly meant her death? How could a child possibly understand that she was never allowed to speak of her mom ever again? How could a child possibly understand the horrors of the past week? 

“Mom’s gonna come home! She promised!” was what the girl had started to wail with the certainty only a child could possess before being dragged away from the ceremony in her uncle’s arms. 

A moment of silence followed before the Chief of the Otter Penguin Clan as well as the other Chiefs of the South simultaneously declared, “From this day on, Ka’ena of the Southern Water Tribe shall be the last of her name.” 

And then Ka’ena was one of the Forgotten. 

It would be decades before such a name was spoken aloud once again. 

**Winter 94 AG**

It was nearly four decades later when her name was spoken once again. 

Kanna was tired. And a part of Kanna was furious. During her sixty-four years of life on this planet, she had seen so much. She had experienced joys and horrors and things she could not even begin to explain. The vocabulary did not exist to describe what had happened to the Southern Water Tribe, to what had happened to the family she had found there. 

A friend forever lost on a failed mission. Another friend captured and to never be seen again. A husband that never returned from a hunt. A daughter-in-law slain in her own home. A granddaughter banished from her own people in order to protect them. A son and a grandson forced onto the open sea in some hope of ending this never ending war. A clan that could no longer call their homeland their home. 

Kanna had seen so much, and, frankly, she was done trying to appease the spirits. The world spirit, the Avatar, had not been seen in almost a century. And the rest of the spirits? The spirits of the ocean, the moon, the sun, the winds, and the earth had done nothing. For what would the major spirits possibly care? Who ruled the planet was of no consequence to them. The Fire Nation could not conquer the ocean, nor could they slay the moon. The spirit world would continue to be no matter who ruled the human one. 

Kanna was tired. And when she observed her granddaughter through the shoji doors of their second home staring up at the moon, she knew a large part of herself was heartbroken as well. After initially arriving in the South, Kanna had been known as the Northern refugee before being accepted as kin. She never expected that in her old age that she and her granddaughter would become known as the Southern refugees on Kyoshi Island.

Decades ago, the South had had a thriving culture where benders and non-benders alike were all valuable members of the community. However, after decades of raids, benders became a liability, a curse, a bad omen. It was a miracle when Kya and Hakoda had convinced the clan to let them keep their waterbending babe. One waterbender after a decade or so of no raids was acceptable. One waterbender after a raid that had taken the Chief and countless others was not. The people had spoken, and Katara was exiled from her home at eight years old. 

For six years, Kanna had watched her granddaughter make the best of a terrible situation. Katara had thrown herself into Kyoshi Warrior training and flourished surrounded by fellow children. She managed to find any semblance of control she could at such an age; any fraction of feeling like she was doing something worthwhile. 

Kanna could cook sea prunes for dinner, tell Southern tales before bed, and teach Katara the embroidery patterns to stitch for good fortune on hunts; however, it wasn’t the same. It was never going to be the same. There was always going to be a longing for home. As the years passed, Kanna had feared that the homesickness would become a permanent state of being. 

A fortnight after Jeong Jeong the Deserter had arrived on Kyoshi Island, a particular mix of exhaustion, rage, restlessness, and hope led Kanna to sit beside her granddaughter on the porch and say the name that had not been spoken in so long. Kanna was done with trying to appease the spirits. 

“Ka’ena.” 

Katara furrowed her eyebrows, a question forming on her lips. 

“You asked me a long time ago who your maternal grandmother was. Her name was Ka’ena.” 

After Suki had bragged about her matrilineal heritage, a ten year old Katara had badgered Kanna for any possible information about hers. She wanted to know if there were any “Great Warriors” that she could use to one up Suki. Kanna had only acquiesced that her mother and one of her great-grandfathers had been a Chief. Katara had not been overly impressed because “she already knew that!” 

Kanna sighed deeply, and grasped her granddaughter’s hands before continuing. 

“She was… the Grandmaster of the Southern Water Tribe. One of the most creative benders the South had ever seen; she treated bending like a science at times. She wanted to know the difference between bending water of various salinity levels, the difference between hot and cold, and all these other variations she could ramble on about for hours.”

Kanna observed the peek of a smile on Katara’s lips, and it made it easier to go on. To continue talking about a person that’s been running through her head for more than half of her life. 

“Your mother’s necklace was actually partially made by Ka’ena. She used her waterbending to do the carving. She gave it to me as a welcoming gift from the Southern Water Tribe.”

It was thanks to this ‘partially’ that had allowed Kanna to hold onto the necklace all those years ago. On that Day, she had planned on offering the necklace up along with her hair beads, but when she had seen Kya. Sobbing Kya. And when she had thought of her own unborn child, her own child never being allowed to hear nor say her name, she just couldn’t do it. The necklace had been constructed by multiple members of the Southern Tribe to welcome her; the spirits would surely not be offended if she held onto it. They surely could not blame her for holding onto it, and one day presenting it to who would become her future daughter-in-law. 

“Why?” was how Katara responded. Why now? Why never mention her before? 

“She failed a task as the Sea Wolf, so she was spiritually banished from the South. I don’t know what happened to her, and we may never know. But what I do know is that she was a brave, stubborn, beautiful woman that deserves to be remembered, spirits forsaken or not!”

Silence. 

“Thanks for telling me, Gran-Gran,” she squeezed Kanna’s hand. 

“Well, Katara, it seems to me that you’re about to set off on a journey of your own. A Southern Waterbender should know her history.” 

Kanna had seen the signs. The Deserter had arrived on the island with people from various nations, and had managed to pass the Kyoshi Warriors’ thorough scrutiny. When the gruff man had discovered that there was an untrained waterbender on the island, he had immediately offered to take her to the swamps of the Earth Kingdom where a tribe of waterbenders supposedly lived untouched by the war. 

Kanna knew her granddaughter. Despite any reservations she may have, Katara would never pass up on the chance to learn waterbending. It may be the only chance she ever got. 

“I need to go.” 

“I know.” 

“I’m going to come back. I promise you, Gran-Gran. I’m going to come back one day, and then maybe we will be able to go home.” 

There were so many things beyond their control, so many things that could go wrong. However, under Tui’s light, looking into her granddaughter's familiar eyes, she had found herself believing just a little bit. The spirits may no longer care, maybe they never did, but there would always be people to step up in their place. 

**Summer 100 AG**

When Princess Azula chose to direct her lightning towards Grandmaster Katara, she failed to realize the irony of the situation. 

Some fifty years ago, her grandfather and namesake, Fire Lord Azulon, had traveled to the Northern Water Tribe in order to strike a deal. At the time, he was merely a Prince of the Fire Nation; it was his cousin, Crown Prince Zheng, who was in line to inherit the Dragon Throne. Zheng was perfectly fine with enjoying the fruits of his nation’s imperialism and the suffering of the common people, but he was not interested in perpetuating the war any further. He was done with warfare, and according to Zheng, the colonies were enough. 

Azulon did not agree. 

And so, Azulon provided a new theater for the Fire Nation military to express their might in: The Water Tribes. Due to the lack of general knowledge concerning the subjugation of waterbenders and the fact that the South had imposed a trade embargo on the Fire Nation after the events of Sozin’s Comet in 0 AG, Azulon selected the North to collaborate with. After all, despite their differences, a disdain for the Southern Water Tribe was one thing they had in common. 

The Fire Nation would learn how to successfully fight and contain waterbenders, and the Northern Water Tribe would not offer any assistance to the South nor any other enemy of the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation navy would not enter the North’s waters, and the North would grant exclusive access to Turtle Seal trading rights. In return, the Northern Water Tribe would be given a steady supply of jade from the Fire Nation’s finest mines. A win-win for every party involved. 

In the Winter of 55 AG, the treaty was signed. 

(Not that Azulon ever planned on upholding it for the allotted time frame). 

On the cusp of Spring in 55 AG, the Northern Water Tribe enthusiastically displayed their good will towards their new allies: they offered up the Grandmaster of the Southern Water Tribe. 

Or, well, they tried to. 

After a terrifying display of bending and the loss of numerous Northern and Fire Nation soldiers, from the balcony on which the elite had gathered to watch, Azulon took it upon himself to generate lightning and aim when the waterbender’s back was turned. 

He never bothered to learn her name. It wasn’t important. He accepted her blade as his trophy, and returned home to stage a military coup against his cousin. The Southern Raids would start soon after the five pronged flame was placed in his hair. 

Decades later, under the vermillion glow of Sozin’s Comet, when Princess Azula saw the waterbender from the corner of her eye and decided to take aim, she was not thinking about her grandfather. She was not thinking about how this situation had occurred before. 

No, when she aimed at Katara, she had thought of her father. If there was one thing Ozai had branded into his daughter’s soul it was that there was only honor in winning. It did not matter that the nobility and the Resistance had gathered to watch the Exiled Prince battle the imminent Fire Lord for the throne. Let them see, Azula had thought, let them see how powerless her brother was to protect his own. 

And so Azula —much like her grandfather and namesake, Fire Lord Azulon— assured of her own victory, released the lightning. 

However, she had miscalculated. 

The Agni Kai was never just about who would sit on the Dragon Throne. The Resistance and the troops stationed in Caldera City could have easily turned the capital into a battlefield to determine the next Fire Lord. No, this was about making sure no else had to be harmed by the Royal Family’s ambitions. This was about righting the sins of their forefathers. This was a battle for the spirit of the Fire Nation. 

So when Zuko realized the trajectory of the bolt, he had jumped. 

Minutes later, under the red sky of Sozin’s Comet, Grandmaster Katara of the Southern Water Tribe would make a king of him. The scar on his chest would be his trophy. 

**Late Summer 100 AG**

It was dawn when the sentry saw movement off Kyoshi Island’s western coast. 

Kanna had kept vigil that night, watching over the other elders and children that had gathered in the temple on Mt. Yun’s peak. Sozin’s Comet had come and passed a few weeks ago, but there had been no word about the outcome of such a potentially climatic event. Had the Resistance failed? Had the Fire Nation finally finished what they had started and would soon be on their shores? Had nothing changed at all? 

The people of Kyoshi did not know, and so they waited. Retired warriors kept watch at all hours, and those who could not fight sought refuge in the temples. Kyoshi Island had been holding its breath. Apparently, the wait was over. 

After the sentry signaled their fellow warriors keeping watch on the adjacent peak, Kanna made her way over to the cliff to meet Kyoshi Island’s fate. She had already decided that if it came down to it, she would rather perish by her own hand than be driven from another home by the Fire Nation. If they were going to burn down the world, then she would not allow them to burn her, too. 

However, when Kanna looked out into the horizon, she did not see the Fire Nation’s looming metal ships. No, she saw something that brought back memories from her life decades ago. Before the South had known war and genocide, back when waterbenders would freely skate on the waves and tell stories with the water; she saw the wake caused by a waterbender propelling themselves across the ocean, and beyond that she saw the blue sails of wooden ships. 

She bounded down the mountain as fast as her seventy-year-old bones would let her. 

There was only one waterbender that had business on Kyoshi Island.

Kanna’s legs were trembling by the time she made it to the bay. A group of Kyoshi Warriors had already surrounded the figure on the beach, and Kanna promptly pushed her way to the front. 

It was her. She had come back.

“Katara!” 

Her granddaughter turned to look at her, and they froze for a moment, taking each other in. Kanna was sure her granddaughter wouldn’t find anything different except for a new wrinkle or two.

“Gran Gran!” the young woman launched herself forward and brought Kanna into her arms. “You’re okay!” 

Kanna could barely contain her snort, “Of course I’m okay!” she leaned back and brought her hand to Katara’s cheek, “Now let me look at you.” 

Some things were the same: her mother’s eyes, her father’s nose, the braided hair, the water pouch at her side, the iron fan tucked into her obi, and the jewelry adorning her neck. However, she was taller now, her face was thinner, a swirling scar peeked out from her short sleeves, and she had some type of weapon strapped to her back. 

“You came back,” was what Kanna managed to gasp after her observation. Katara squeezed the hand resting on her cheek. 

“Of course I did. I promised didn’t I?” 

Kanna was cut off from her response when a male voice suddenly shouted, “Gran-Gran!” Her eyes widened at the combined sigil of the Penguin Otter and Tiger Seal Clans on the sails of the approaching ships, and widened even further at the sight of a familiar young man waving a crutch in the air and her son supporting him. “Gran-Gran! It’s me, Sokka! Your favorite grandson! Pack your bags because we’re going home! The War is over!” 

Kanna could barely hear anything as the crowd around them broke into celebration, “What?” 

Wet eyes met wet eyes as Katara repeated, “The war is over,” and reached over her shoulder to bring forward the weapon she had been carrying, “We can go home.” 

Kanna could only stare at the knife her granddaughter presented to her. The Wolf’s Fang was something she had only seen from afar before, but the curved blade and the engraved hilt were instantly recognizable. It had not been lost at sea like so many had theorized after the beginning of the raids; it was here, and it had been found. 

“We’re going home,” she reaffirmed. 

Kanna pulled her granddaughter into her arms once again. 

During her seventy years of life on this planet, Kanna had seen so much. She had experienced joys and horrors and things she could not even begin to explain. She wasn’t certain if she would ever be able to properly articulate it, but when she held her granddaughter in her arms, with the knowledge that the rest of her family was just off the coast, that the Sea Wolf would finally be able to return to the South, and that after a century the war was over. “ _ Ah _ ,” Kanna had thought to herself, “ _ so this is what peace feels like. _ ” 

**Summer 140 AG**

It was forty years into his reign that Fire Lord Zuko would finally step down from the throne. After decades of debate and squabbling, the Council and Fire Sages had finally agreed upon an heir. The road leading to the crowning of the Fire Lord’s successor had certainly been a long and arduous one. 

First, there had been the matter of the heir’s gender. 

“We cannot possibly have a female Fire Lord!” they had deplored, “The people are not ready for such a thing!” 

“We most certainly can, and they most definitely are!” Lady Katara, whom some may argue was actually the first female Fire Lord, had responded, “I may vehemently disagree with all of Azulon’s decisions, but changing the law to allow a woman to become Fire Lord is not one of them.” 

(The sexist Ministers were soon relieved of their positions). 

Then, the Crown Princess was revealed to be a waterbender. 

“We are the Fire Nation, we cannot have a waterbender become the Fire Lord! Such a thing would be sacrilegious to Agni’s name!” they sputtered, pointing to the ancient texts. 

“Actually,” Fire Sage Shyu had chimed in, “What you’re translating as firebender is most accurately translated as bender. As any expert familiar with the ancient script would agree, there is obviously no radical for fire present in that character, so it cannot unequivocally mean firebender. Furthermore, waterbenders are the children of Agni’s sister; I’m sure they would take no offense.” 

(When the Crown Princess returned from a trip to the Sun Warrior Ruins with a dragon companion, also known as one of the  _ original firebenders _ , one crusty minister shortly after passed away due to a heart attack). 

Next, Princess Kya —and later Prince Kazuo— were discovered to be Firebenders. 

“A firebender would be best for the position of Fire Lord,” they had asserted. 

“Firebending, nor the presence of any bending, does not make someone a good ruler as evidenced by the last hundred years or so,” Fire Lord Zuko had pointed out, “The content of someone’s character is so much more vital.” 

(The Ministers awkwardly avoided eye contact for the duration of the week). 

“What about the non-benders, Princess Mingna and Princess Mayari?” was the grand response the council had come up with, “Surely a non-bender would be more suitable than a waterbender!” 

“No thanks,” said Princess Mingna, “I am too busy with my medical studies, nor do I have any interest in ruling a country.” 

“Well, if you think a waterbender ruling the country is radical, wait until you hear some of my ideas!” Princess Mayari had penned home, and promptly terrified the Sages and Ministers. 

(The Council members tended to avoid Princess Mayari after that, to the great amusement of Lady Katara). 

Later, as a young adult, the Crown Princess began to express her interest in ruling the Fire Nation one day, and thus attended more political meetings. 

“We cannot have another Princess Azula!” the Council had cried, “The Crown Princess desires the throne too much! Such a person should not be allowed to rule!” 

“So… you’re saying that someone who wants to lead is a bad choice for a ruler? Now that’s some of the dumbest fucking shit I have ever heard,” was Fire Lord Zuko’s dignified response. 

(The court historians —present and future— had quite the chuckle over that one). 

More than a decade into the debate, the fruits of the reconstruction of the education system were finally reaped when the Ministers began to pose worthwhile questions. 

“Is the Crown Princess qualified to act as Fire Lord? Would the common people of the Fire Nation accept her rule?” 

“The Crown Princess has been responsible for spearheading the campaign to create more local representation in government, as well as being involved with the revitalization of indigenous cultures to the Fire Nation,” Lady Katara —along with her husband and a few members of the Council— pointed out, “I think they are more than willing to accept her rule.” 

(She was probably one of the most qualified people in the history of the Li dynasty, some experts would later argue). 

It was a tumultuous task, but by the year of 140 AG, the Council had finally come to a decision and Fire Lord Zuko was ready to step down after forty long years of rule. 

It was during the morning of a midsummer day that the Crown Princess, adorned in the colors of her ancestry, kneeled down before the people of the Fire Nation, and rose up as Fire Lord Ka’ena. The crowd that stretched as far as the eye could see broke into cheers for their new ruler, and only ceased when she held up her hand. 

“Before the Four Nations Conquests spread through the world like a plague, before the Li Dynasty took the Dragon Throne, there were sixty-eight distinct cultures found on the archipelago we know today as the Fire Nation. Now there are only seventeen. There are only seventeen of these vibrant cultures and peoples left. Seventeen.

“I stand before you today as a woman descended from Fire, from the Lu people, and from Water. I also stand before you as the Fire Nation’s first female ruler in centuries. Originally, I had thought this was justice. After decades, after centuries of oppression and violence, a woman with the blood of the Southern Water Tribe and the Lu indigenous people would take the Dragon Throne. I would sit on the throne that had caused my people so much devastation and pain. I had thought this was justice, but now I am not so certain. 

“You see, it is not the blood of my mother that has led me to stand before you today; it is the legacy of the Li dynasty that has earned me the privilege to wear the Five Pronged Flame in my hair, and to be proclaimed your Fire Lord. My parents, Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara, fought long and hard to protect my claim to the throne. It is thanks to them and various other officials that the heir to the Dragon Throne is now determined by the content of that person’s character. In order to be Fire Lord, gender and bending status no longer matter. 

“Originally, I had thought this was justice. Originally, I had thought as I stood here before you as a mixed, female Fire Lord that my position would be a symbol of progress and a cause of inspiration, and that that would be enough. Although I believe my becoming Fire Lord is both of these two things, I do not think it is justice. As the Council was arguing over my fitness for the throne, they failed to realize that it was only by the privilege of my birth that I was even considered. Yes, gender, bending status, and blood purity may no longer matter, but my father and forefathers certainly did. 

“How can I stand before you as your Fire Lord and claim that you are free to be whoever you want to be, and that the Fire Nation is a bastion of progress, when the highest position in this country is not yours to aspire to? When this very position was forged upon the oppression of the people? Avatar Kyoshi once said, ‘Only justice will bring peace,’ and it is my duty as your Fire Lord, by any means necessary, to bring and maintain peace in our nation. Thus, it is my honor to inform you today that a year from this date the monarchy of the Fire Nation will be abolished. From that date onward, the Fire Nation will be a representative government that is run by and functions for its people. It will be my greatest honor to serve as your Fire Lord through this transitional period. 

“Today I bow before you and proclaim that I, Fire Lord Ka’ena, will be the first and last of my name.” 

After that midsummer day, the public stance on Fire Lord Ka’ena would fluctuate across time and people, but one thing was for certain: she was never forgotten. 

**Author's Note:**

> The concept of a Sea Wolf was inspired by Lykegenia's [The Things We Hide](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10730979/chapters/23781660). Something interesting I came across while doing research for this AU is that killer whales are nicknamed sea wolves because they hunt as a pod. Furthermore, this nickname may have also come from the Siberian Yupik belief that killer whales are wolves in the winter, and wolves are killer whales in the spring. However, this is what I read on wikipedia (and most of the works cited are originally in Russian), so it may not be 100% accurate. 
> 
> Ka'ena is a unisex Hawaiian name that has multiple meanings. There's a place called [Ka'ena Point](https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/oahu/kaena-point-state-park/) on O'ahu where the souls of ancestors are said to leap into the spirit world from. The name can also be translated as "the heat" or glowing/red hot. From my googling adventures, I have learned that 'ena can be used to express heightened emotions of anger or happiness. For example, 'ena aloha means an intense longing or affection. And here's a blog post about why the name needs to written like Ka'ena, and not Kaena [[x].](http://morningmanao.blogspot.com/2009/12/kaena.html)
> 
> Fun Fact: the notes for this AU are actually titled "Grandpa Jeong Jeong AU" in my google docs. Kya is the daughter of Ka'ena and Jeong Jeong in this. This whole AU was born from one random comment about how Jeong Jeong liked Katara the most out of all the gaang. So if I ever get around to writing it, there is a Found Family ² plot line with Katara and Jeong Jeong hanging out in the swamp together. Also, the Lu people mentioned is the ethnic minority group that Jeong Jeong is a part of.
> 
> The necklace was made by Ka'ena in this AU because fuck the whole canon necklace plot line. Ka'ena and Kanna may or may not have gotten it on at some point (they did).
> 
> The Fire Nation Royal Family has been greatly expanded in this because the original creators were incapable of doing math. In this AU, Azulon is Sozin's great-grandson, and Zuko is Sozin's great-great-great grandson. I've also added more family members to the royal family because there was not enough drama, and I wanted to work out a reason for Ozai blatantly asking for the throne like that (basically cuz Azulon set a precedent, whoops).
> 
> The Four Nations Conquest is a headcanon / plot bunny I have that explains why there's only four countries on the whole planet. Basically, some assholes used the avatar as an excuse for imperialism. There's a lot more to this idea, but this A/N is already too long lol.
> 
> Steambaby Names (that I'm pretty sure I put more effort into deciding than bryke did for their characters lol. no, but really, they named korra after this random dog they met):  
> -Kya: You guys already know where I got this from, so I'll give you a headcanon. She's super gay and can also produce rainbow fire. Due to her being super out and proud, rainbows begin to become associated with queerness in the atla world.  
> -Mingna: written as 明娜. Personally, I think if you want to give a zutara kid a name that uses Chinese characters, then you should definitely incorporate 明 because it's sun 日 and moon 月 combined. Ming 明 is often translated as bright and na 娜 means elegant and is used in female names. I also decided on Mingna because that's the name of Mulan's voice actress in the 1998 animated film.  
> -Mayari: the name of a moon goddess in Tagalog mythology. She is also the goddess of beauty and revolution. In mythology, she is blind in one eye due to a fight with the sun, so I headcanon that steambaby Mayari is also blind in one eye and likes to say that she is like her dad. You can read more about the goddess [here](https://www.aswangproject.com/bathalas-daughters-demigods-mayari-hanan-tala/) and [here](https://malyaritribe.wixsite.com/site/post/mayari-goddess-of-beauty-and-strength).  
> -Kazuo: written as 和夫 in kanji. This means harmonious/peaceful son in Japanese. Depending on the kanji it can also mean first son, which I thought fit well for the only zutara boy. It also blends the Water and Fire naming practices.  
> I would have liked to have Zuko and Katara be the ones to end the monarchy, but I needed Ka'ena to have her 'last of her name' moment.
> 
> This is SUPER long, so I'm going to shut up now. If you have questions about the AU, then please feel free to ask :) ALSO: my tumblr is [the-yellowturtle](https://the-yellowturtle.tumblr.com/) and I would love to chat with fellow zutarians and/or atla fans over there :D
> 
> Thanks for reading, and stay safe <3


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